Published 3:06 pm, Thursday, February 6, 2014

The Permian Basin Coalition discussed how desalination and wastewater recycling just may be what West Texas communities will have to do to keep up with an adequate long-term water supply.

Representatives from regional water districts and private water-related businesses spoke to a group comprised of political leaders from Permian Basin cities and counties Thursday to explain why desalination, a method of removing salt from water, is the future.

“Looking at one presentation we had this morning about how salty groundwater is and the availability of it, water recycling and desalination looks to me like it has the most potential,” said Scurry County Judge Ricky Fritz, the host for the coalition’s meeting. “Because there would be unlimited water if we could take the salt out of it.”

One of several groups the coalition invited to talk all things water was Advanced Hydro, an Austin-based water tech company that develops desalination related products. Dileep Agnihotri, president and CEO of Advanced Hydro, prefaced his presentation with the notion that two-thirds of the U.S. is in a drought, the oil and associated population boom is causing water supply issues, and hydraulic fracturing is further stressing water availability. He revealed a long-term prediction that claims most major cities will be in highly stressed water supply conditions by 2050.

“It really gets me worried,” Agnihotri said. “That’s the reason why I started jumping into the water industry.”

Advanced Hydro creates equipment that facilitate desalination, including mobile facilities as small as 5 feet tall by 5 feet wide. Agnihotri acknowledged how desalination is still an expensive venture but his company is seeking ways to make the water filtration method more cost efficient.

Reclamation is a process already utilized regionally via the Colorado River Water Municipal District, or CRMWD, in its Big Spring plant. The plant recycles Big Spring’s effluent into potable water that is blended into the district’s surface water supply. The plant receives 2.5 million gallons per day of wastewater and outputs 2 million gallons per day of potable water, which equates to an 80 percent output.

CRMWD also has begun drilling for groundwater from Ward County to further meet demand as the drought diminishes its traditional supply of surface water from area reservoirs. As of Thursday, CRMWD’s surface water sources are only about 7 percent full. And according to a graph that compared annual rainfall to watering habits, no Permian Basin cities receive enough rainfall that allow residents to water their lawns with 1 inch of water every other week, or 26 inches per year.

“The drought is not over with,” said John Grant, CRMWD general manager. “Don’t forget that.”